They know their rugby in Coventry?s Cowshed, and the fact that the occupants were back in such fine voice by the end of Saturday?s game spoke volumes for what was happening on the field.

Cov hadn?t given them too much to shout about up to the last couple of weeks, but if the win over Bedford seven days earlier was a step forward, this was a giant stride in the right direction.

Welsh came to Coundon Road boasting one of the meanest defences in National Division One and looking for their fourth successive win in the fixture, but they were outscored 3-1 on tries and looked positively pedestrian in attack compared to a Cov side growing in confidence and now back with the pack congregating around mid-table.

Scrum-half Rob Chrystie had an outstanding game in the difficult conditions, constantly probing and bravely tidying up scrappy ball, while the pace of wingers James Baker and Kurt Johnson was always a threat - and there is no doubt that Cov?s new Canadian contingent will have a big say in the side?s future progress.

Flanker Leif Carlson gave a man-of-the-match performance - capped by his maiden try for the club - at blind side which was appreciated by his back row partners Danny Collins, clearly enjoying the role of captain, and No.8 Nigel Pickford, while Nik Witkowski and Jared Barker made a solid, organised start at centre which bodes well.

The win only moved Cov one more place up the table, above Henley, and it?s still too close to call immediately above bottom-markers Manchester - but it?s looking a lot better than it did two weeks ago, and with winnable games against Manchester and Wakefield to come, there is good cause for optimism. Cov could scarcely have made a better start with Welsh lock Tim Collier going offside at the opening ruck, just 23 seconds into the game, and Gareth Cull kicking the penalty from 35 metres.

The next eight minutes set the tone for the rest of the game. A turnover ten metres inside Cov?s own half allowed Welsh to set up camp in the home 22, but they were denied by some outstanding defence and eventually had to settle for a penalty for offisde which Seb Fitz-Gerald knocked over.

A short line-out ploy between Trent McMurray and

Chrystie took Cov back into the Welsh 22, and with both sets of forwards locked in combat in the left corner, Mark Meenan launched an inch-perfect crossfield kick to the opposite side which Johnson plucked from the air before sending Baker clear to the posts for Cull to convert.

The visitors managed to get a hand beneath the ball when Rob Hurrell was driven over, but they were powerless when the second row secured a line-out five metres out and the pack surged forward for Carlson to claim the score.

Welsh were seeing plenty of the ball, but an exchange of penalties left them trailing 18-6 at the break, and although Fitz-Gerald fired over his third kick three minuttes after the restart, Cov went further ahead when they countered quickly from ten metres inside their half, Collins making good ground down the right flank, in a move which ended with Johnson crossing to the right of the posts, Cull again converting.

With half an hour remaining, Cov were a good bet to secure their bonus point but for a number of reasons, it didn?t happen. They played ten minutes without replacement centre Simon Martin, who was harshly sin-binned for offside when caught in the wrong position, and made a few handling errors while, to their credit, Welsh tightened up at the back and continued to move the ball at every opportunity.

It was, however, four minutes into injury-time before Cov finally left a gap for centre Adam Bidwell to score. Fitz-Gerald, who had made it four penalties at the end of the third quarter, had the conversion attempt to secure a point for the visitors, but he put his kick wide.